"Be brave enough to start a conversation that matter." --Dau Voire
During our weekly edchat (Check it out Wednesday @ 4 pm #cisdedchat) the topic was the changing landscape of education. We all discussed the differences from when we were children and our predictions for the classroom of the future. Just in the course of my teaching career, technology has completely altered the way I teach. When I first began I used an overhead projector. Did you also? Did you know that technology was created in 1930! I was using it in 2006. There are no overhead projectors in our classrooms now. Our district is very forward thinking in regard to technology and we are equipped with 1:1 in grade seventh through twelfth. Lower grades have multiple methods of engaging students with technology. How quickly things have changed.
My daughter independently takes an AR test on an iPad and the results go to the teacher. If a student wants to research an earthquake in Japan they can Skype a person there or watch real time videos or even view an interactive model of the quake. A drama student can project on a green screen and change the scenery without a hammer, nail or wood. Needless to say--those things cannot be done with an overhead. As educators, we simply cannot afford to use thinking (or equipment) to engage kids that worked in 1930 or even 2006 for that matter. Our world is different and kids are different. They learn differently than we did and have more options to guide that learning. The opportunities we miss when we are reluctant to change can be devastating to the children in our classrooms.
Change is difficult but not more than failure. Break down the walls of your classrooms. Be open to what possibilities are out there to engage the ever changing mind of the 21st century learner. The ride might be bumpy but be brave enough to stay on and forge ahead.
You are so right- we need to join their generation. I know you are excited about your daughter being able to use technology to enhance how she learns.
ReplyDelete